Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1183266
FALL 2019 | ADVOCATE 7 D uring last year's walk out, Amy Bowser served as her school's site liaison at Lake Valley Elementary School. Bowser is a 20-year teaching veteran with over half those years in her current district at Humboldt Unified School District. "I had the relationships that I built up in that time and I wasn't afraid to be vocal," she says. During the walk out, Bower joined her union, but afterwards she decided to take those new leadership skills and apply them to building her local union. "What my colleagues and I saw during the walk out is that we had great power when we worked together. We closed our school for seven days and if we can do that, imagine what else we could do for our students and working conditions." Bowser was elected president of the Humboldt Education Association (HEA) and worked closely with her regional field staff, AEA Organizational Consultant Leah Koistinen, who urged her to attend AEA Leaders' Academy earlier this year. "Leaders' Academy was a powerful experience for me. I realized that I had the potential to be a local leader and organizer and it was great to meet with other leaders from other locals all over the state. Humboldt is a rural community and sometimes we feel really isolated out here, so it was great talking to other educators who share the same issues we face here." The leadership development has paid off. This time last year, HEA had 20 members. Today they have 154 members. The HEA president credits her executive committee – Vice President Katie Taylor, Secretary Marissa Busk, and Treasurer Lisa Groves – and site leaders for building their local. "I think the key we have found to getting people to join is just having conversations and listening to what people say they want to do and how they want to see us advocate for their schools and students. Most people just want to be heard, which is really important when you're in a rural community." HEA leaders just completed a round of site visits and are setting goals based on what they heard from members and colleagues. They also participated in bargaining and advocacy training with AEA Bargaining Organizational Consultant Greg McQuaid to discuss strategies for creating a bargaining agreement with the district. "What we learned in our conversations with members is that people want to have a say in the decisions made around their working conditions," says Bowser. "Getting a bargaining agreement will give our members a voice and we're excited about that." HEA is also working on building community partnerships with parents and community to build voter support in order to pass a bond and override in 2020. How One Local Association Grew Membership by 600% Continues on p. 14.